Monthly Archives: October 2007

Mr. Ravenstahl said he wants the city and women’s advocates to “come together with a comprehensive plan, but I know we have discussed the issue internally about police officers having to relinquish their weapons in the event that they’ve been involved in a domestic altercation.”

The mayor & his administration did not want action on this issue until after the election. Today they got their wish. I guess that dragging your feet & refusing to act have their rewards, but not for the people of Pittsburgh.

The delay comes after a flurry of e-mails to council reflecting a split among women’s advocates about how to proceed. Several groups concerned with women’s rights generally have advocated an immediate vote before Tuesday’s general election, while some organizations which help battered women urged lengthier talks with the administration.

It occurs to us we omitted all the good stuff, so we added Cloud Writer’s missive to Forouzan at the bottom.

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We received the following e-mail from Gloria Forouzan, and thought it merited your immediate attention.

Pgh. City Council takes a preliminary vote on both the bill and amendments tomorrow, Oct. 31.

As of this writing and as far as I know, the Mayor has not committed to supporting either Council’s ordinance or the policy developed by the PD; other than CouncilmembersPeduto & Shields, no councilmember has declared support for either the bill or the amendments.

In the meantime, people/organizations around this country arewatching. Here are 2 of them:

This link will take you to the results of a search for the word “Pittsburgh” on the blog, Behind the Blue Wall.

Here is Cloud Writer’s email to Forouzan, which can also be found in the comments of PWBS:

I wrote my Tacoma, WA Council an email asking them – with detail – to let the Pittsburgh council know what it’s like when the worst-case-scenario happens within the police department and you find yourself in national news withOUT a police domestic violence policy… with a trail of events leading up to the tragedy that WOULD have been intervened on if there had been a policy in place.

I cc’d that email to your council and other folk of power in Pittsburgh.

I track officer-involved dv and have never seen in the four and half years I’ve been doing this, a community raise their voices together, and exert unrelenting pressure for their city to do the right thing in this area for victims and/or officers.

It’s the right thing.

Cloud Writer in Tacoma, where our police chief committed murder-suicide on his wife after the city ignored her reports that he was threatening her life.

OH… which reminds me — make sure your policy has what to do if the abuser or killer is your chief.

We did not attend the debate this last Sunday morning, but we dispatched two representatives: Comet senior political analyst Morton Reichbaum, and Secret Agent Klezmer.

Agent Klezmer says if DeSantis could go back and change one thing, he ought to have taken a course in public speaking prior to his campaign. She felt the challenger had “a better idea what was going on,” but too often he muttered his best responses under his breath.

She said that Mr. Ravenstahl proved himself to be a bright young man, very well prepared — and an excellent public speaker. Her main criticism was that he seemed a little “out of his depth.”

Surprisingly, Agent Klezmer also insisted that Mark DeSantis is cute. She hastened to add, “you know, like-a-geek cute, but definitely.” She had nothing to say about Mr. Ravenstahl in this regard.

Comet senior political analyst Morton Reichbaum called the debate “boring.” He said you knew what both sides were going to say ahead of time — particularly Luke. He did however say that DeSantis showed he was the candidate that was “more up on everything.”

That’s when he said, “I’m telling you — I think DeSantis is going to win.”

This brought us up short; we had never encountered that opinion before. We started talking about the 5-1 registration advantage …

“No, no I’m serious,” he interrupted us. “People are turning on Luke. I think a lot of, lot of people are gonna be surprised.”

“This DeSantis comes across as a decent guy,” he explained. “I first saw him on that John Pintek — who I can’t stand — but he was, you know, he was fine.”

We asked what exactly he liked about what Mr. DeSantis had to say.

“Nothing, really,” he conceded. “But next to Luke — people are getting tired of Luke’s — shall we say — his gaffes.“

Video clips from that debate have been organized here. Another debate will air this evening on KDKA ch. 2 at 7:00 PM.

The Burgh Report (having evolved into Pittsburgh’s version of the Drudge Report, h/t Early Returns) is featuring the first of a series of posts by the anonymous blogger Richmond K. Turner: The Ravenstahl Retrospective.

1) Campaign contributions are regulated. You will know what happens to the donations.

True, but that doesn’t stop the money from getting anywhere.

2) Here is a list of everyone Mark donated to with the specifics on the year and amount for the conservative republican candidates.George W. Bush-1999 – $1,000.00 (He did not donate to his 2004 campaign.)

Yeah. Word.

Rick Santorum –2000 – $400.00 / 2006– $250.00

The number went down instead of up. The Comet feels comfortable that $250.00 is within the envelope of a “token” contribution for a U.S. Senate seat.

Mark has also donated to the following:Arlen Specter;Doug Shields;Valerie McDonald Roberts (Lt. Governor) campaign; andMark held a fundraiser for Michael Lamb in 2005 when he was running for mayor.

Senator Specter (R-Pennsylvania) is a moderate who is regularly assailed by his own party as a traitor.

Doug Shields is our very liberal Democratic City Council President (to whom Mr. DeSantis donated $150, not $250, h/t C-P)

We don’t know much about Val, but to hear her talk OffQ, she is also quite the liberal Democrat.

Michael Lamb was and continues to be the strong Democratic voice for reform who is not quite so closely aligned with the froo–froo progressives. Throwing a fundraiser for Lamb’s 2005 mayoral run, more than anything else, ought to offer a window into Mark’s ideology.

Or lack thereof.

We asked the DeSantis campaign if it would consider returning unspent campaign money to those contributors who request it, as Bill Peduto did for some in April. Press Secretary Jones-Rolla offered this response:

I believe that giving the $ back is a little unusual. However, Peduto voluntarily dropped out of the race.

Mark is not dropping out of the race and we still have many bills to pay. In fact, you can expect some new ads from DeSantis this week. We also have an election day party and payroll to meet. I don’t know whether there will be any money left and I don’t think anyone has thought about what will happen if we do have any money remaining in the account.

Amendments have been added to legislation concerning open government records in Pennsylvania, and some are displeased.

The amended bill “is a significant step in the wrong direction and would result in less access than the public has today,” said Tim Williams, Pennsylvania Newspaper Association president. Pennsylvania “would be the only state in the country that has such a broad e-mail exemption,” he added. (P-G, Tom Barnes)

The Busman has been exercised about changes to the “Sunshine Law” for some time. This is not good news for readers of the Comet who enjoy corruption.

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Residents of something called “New Homestead” have been complaining about real-estate developers getting effective “carteblanche” to work exactly as they see fit, without proper oversight and enforcement, and despite numerous letters, 311 hotline calls, and community forums. You read now. (P-G, Rich Lord)

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The Comet infers from this article that the members of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board went into their big meeting knowing one thing: they all wanted to give the Pittsburgh slots license to PITG Gaming, presumably for the same reasons outlined previously.

If you think an RFP process is creative, Luke, you need to think again.

An RFP is a Request for Proposals. That is when you ask contractors or service providers to come up with their own ideas, and then select a winning bid.

No matter how “clear and transparent” an RFP process is, it very different from coming up with plans of one’s own — hopefully taking into account the city’s unique situation and some intangibles. DeSantis faulted the mayor for not showing “creativity” with the nonprofits.

The Comet has been increasingly clear about the mayor’s race for some time. We would prefer that you vote for Mark DeSantis.

The DeSantis campaign recently announced it had raised $300,000; a princely sum in these parts for any respectable underdog.

That should be the end of it.

Mark DeSantis already possesses at his disposal the tools to make a winning run. He should already have budgeted for it, which considering he is who he is, he no doubt already has.

But let’s be frank. He’s the underdog. Who knows where his leftover campaign cash would wind up if he loses?

Seriously. Who knows?

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Look, we’ve all got to get our arms around this alleged Santorum contribution.

We are guessing Mark did not donate five figures. We are guessing he did not exactly go to war for the guy.

We are guessing that he, like so many Pittsburghers, felt expected to make an appearance, hold his nose, and write a check. His oldest friends were there, and he’s an important figure.

The man worked not only for Senator Heinz, but for Bush 41. For years.

41 was the one who knew how to organize the nations of the world, win a war, and get the hell out of there.

41 was the one that knew enough to raise the revenue necessary to keep government functioning, even if it was politically unpopular in his party.

Whatever. The point is, it’s okay for him to make a token contribution to Slick Rick if that’s what he feels — but not for us. The tale underscores our assertion that we really don’t know where DeSantis funds will go in the event of a loss. State races could be affected. National races could be affected.

Popular challenger Mark DeSantis will require a hearty last-minute push to get this boulder over the top of the mountain, no question. Cash always helps, and more is always better than less.

He should look to the apparatus of the state and national GOP. It is long past overdue for them to come through for one of their newest, most promising leaders — one that may even restore their party to the beginnings of dignity.